While the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has stepped up its preparations for a “mega rally” in Lucknow on October 9 to mark the death anniversary of Kanshi Ram, the BSP’s founder, it seems to have made some of her rival parties in Uttar Pradesh uneasy.
Mayawati is going to hold this rally at the Kanshi Ram memorial after a gap of four years, with her party leaders projecting it as a show of strength meant to galvanise the party’s rank and file ahead of the 2027 UP Assembly elections. The BSP has been struggling to make its mark in state politics for several years.
For weeks the BSP leaders and workers have been engaged in clearing the decks for the October 9 rally, reaching out to people at the grassroots level, especially those belonging to the communities like Dalits, minorities and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), to urge them to reach Lucknow for the event.
The BSP supporters have come up with several new slogans, songs, posters and banners, doing wall paintings in villages to invite people to the Lucknow rally. The party has also been running a big social media campaign in this regard.
Last time Mayawati addressed such a rally was on October 9, 2021, ahead of the 2022 UP Assembly polls. The BSP was however reduced to just one seat in the polls while its vote share dipped to 12.8%. In the 403-member House, the BSP’s lone MLA is Uma Shankar Singh from Ballia.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party faced another setback, failing to open its account.
In this backdrop, the October 9 rally is being seen in state political circles as Mayawati’s all-out attempt to kickstart the process of the BSP’s revival, which has put her rivals on alert.
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The Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) led by Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Aazad has asked its leaders and workers to mark Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary in every district of UP, including Lucknow. The party has already been holding “Prabudha Sammelans” (intelligentsia conclaves), asking the Bahujan communities to unite under their banner.
“Our district units would be organising meetings to mark the death anniversary of Kanshi Ram ji by gathering workers from every Assembly constituency of that particular district at one place and remembering his contributions to the society,” said Saurabh Kishore, the ASP (KR)’s UP vice-president. He also said the party would later prepare for a big meeting in Lucknow by mobilising the communities.
The Congress’s Dalit leader and ex-MP Udit Raj, who is also the chairman of the Confederation of Dalit, OBC, Minorities and Adivasi Organisations, kept his guns trained on Mayawati while addressing a press conference in Lucknow a few days ago, alleging that her “true face is to speak about Ambedkar but keep lotus (the ruling BJP’s symbol) in her heart”.
Raj said while events should be held to commemorate Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary but “to use such occasions to benefit Manuvadis would be like cheating to the community”.
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Brushing aside such allegations, the BSP camp has been engaged in its door-to-door mobilisation in villages, projecting four-time UP CM Mayawati as a “real successor of Kanshi Ram” and promoting the party’s social engineering by presenting her as a “true leader of the deprived and vulnerable sections”.
For the upcoming rally, the BSP leaders and activists have coined slogans such as “Dalit, Pichare, Alpasankhyak ki awaaz, Bahujan Samaj ka naya aagaz” (voice of Dalits, OBCs and minorities, it’s a new beginning of Bahujan society), or “Ration nahi, sashan chahiye… Lucknow chalo, Lucknow chalo (we want government, not ration, let’s reach Lucknow)”.
The Opposition INDIA bloc, including the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress, has been looking to consolidate its support base among the OBCs, minorities, Dalits and tribals.
“Behen ji (Mayawati) just gave a call to mark the death anniversary of Kanshi Ram ji, rest is being done by followers of Kanshi Ram on their own. They are making their own arrangements to come to Lucknow. They are preparing songs, slogans and wall paintings to mobilise others,” state BSP president Vishwanath Pal told The Indian Express.
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Asked about the ASP(KR)’s parallel October 9 events and Udit Raj’s criticism, Pal said, “First of all, Behen ji is the true successor of Kanshi Ram, who declared this himself at a public meeting in Lucknow. Secondly, people, who did not even walk with Kanshi Ram, cannot become his successor just by putting his name with their party name.”
He said the October 9 rally will be addressed by Mayawati to give her “important message to not just Dalits but also OBCs and minorities and all those deprived, who are seeking justice and feel that there was better governance and law and order during the BSP regime in the state”.
In her address, Mayawati would also give directions to the BSP cadre and supporters for the party’s future course of action.
Pal said, “We are not a ‘B’ team of any party and I would not comment on leaders who do not matter. Just like 2007, the BSP is preparing on the ground to form its next government in 2027.”